Biometrics, Liveness Detection, and More: The Future of Identity Verification

Key Takeaways

Facial biometrics and liveness detection are revolutionizing identity verification, offering more secure and frictionless solutions compared to traditional methods. These technologies allow companies to authenticate users remotely, prevent fraud, and comply with KYC/AML regulations.

Liveness tests are crucial for ensuring real-time authenticity during the identity verification process. There are two main types: passive and active. Passive liveness tests, like those offered by Didit, use advanced technology to detect fraud without requiring additional user actions, providing a smoother experience.

The global biometrics market is experiencing rapid growth, driven by the increasing demand for secure and easy-to-use authentication solutions across various industries. The market is expected to reach $68.6 billion by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 13.4%.

Didit leads the way in free identity verification with advanced biometrics, offering a solution that combines facial recognition and passive liveness testing. By providing free, unlimited, and forever KYC, Didit enables companies of all sizes to leverage facial biometrics without facing the high costs associated with other providers.

Identity verification has become a critical challenge for companies in all sectors, especially those in the fintech and financial industries. With the rise of fraud threats and identity theft, organizations are seeking advanced solutions to securely authenticate users without compromising their experience. This is where biometrics emerges as a game-changer, revolutionizing the way we approach identity verification and KYC processes.

Imagine being able to confirm a user's identity while they look at their smartphone camera. That's exactly what biometrics does, recognizing individuals' unique physical characteristics to enable authentication. We're talking about complementary developments, such as facial recognition and liveness detection, solutions that enhance the security levels of traditional identity verification methods.

In this article, we'll discuss biometrics and see how it impacts identity verification processes. Additionally, we'll show you how Didit's facial recognition solution helps companies optimize their onboarding processes, improve security, and enhance the user experience.

Facial Biometrics: What Is It? How Does It Work in Identity Verification?

Facial biometrics is a recognition technology that uses a person's unique characteristics to identify and authenticate them. Unlike traditional identity verification methods, biometric factors offer a more secure and frictionless alternative.

Facial recognition works by capturing and analyzing recognizable patterns and geometries of a person's face. What are these factors? Distance between the eyes, nose shape, and cheekbone structure are some of them. Once this information is obtained, the system compares all this biometric information using advanced algorithms with the photograph that appears on the identity documents, which allows confirming the identity.

Main Advantages of Biometric Systems Over Traditional Methods

Accuracy and verification speed are two of the main advantages of biometrics over traditional identity verification methods. Thanks to advances like artificial intelligence, biometric systems like Didit offer a 99.9% accuracy rate. This makes new identity verification methods more secure than traditional methods, which are prone to human error.

Moreover, technology allows new identity verification processes to be done automatically and remotely, without requiring the physical presence of individuals in a specific location. This is known as eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer), a remote identity verification process, which has already been implemented in use cases like eSIMs, which require remote KYC.

Also in fintech, biometrics is revolutionizing onboarding processes. For example, a user can now open a bank account remotely, even sharing their verified credentials (reusable KYC) and allowing verification with a single click. This saves paperwork, unnecessary branch visits, and optimizes all onboarding phases for new users.

Liveness Detection: How Authenticity Is Detected in Real-Time

Liveness detection, also known as liveness test, is a crucial anti-fraud technique within facial recognition and identity verification systems. Its objective is to distinguish between a real person, physically present, and a scammer attempting to deceive the system using a photograph, deepfake, pre-recorded video, or mask.

These liveness detection systems work by combining advanced algorithms capable of analyzing different life indicators in real-time. Thanks to factors such as skin texture, depth detection, motion tracking, and response to random instructions, among other parameters, high accuracy is achieved in differentiating between real and fraudulent subjects.

Types of Liveness Tests: Passive or Active

Mainly, liveness tests are divided into two: passive or active:

• Passive liveness test: using advanced technology, they are capable of detecting fraud, such as deepfakes. They do not require users to perform extra actions during the facial recognition process.
• Active liveness test: they require users to perform an action, such as moving or turning their face in a certain direction, to guarantee the verification process.

In the table below, we will analyze some more points about the characteristics that differentiate passive and active liveness tests.

The Importance of Liveness Detection in Identity Verification

Liveness tests allow verifying the physical presence of a person during the facial recognition process. In this way, thanks to liveness detection:

• Identity fraud is prevented. Scammers cannot present an image or video of another person to impersonate them.
• User privacy is protected. By ensuring that only the legitimate individual can access their data, users' digital identity is protected.
• Complies with regulations. It helps companies comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) prevention.

The Future of Identity Verification: Biometrics as the New Standard

As fraud and threats continue to evolve, the adoption of biometric solutions advances in the same way, becoming a basic necessity for many companies and sectors. Facial biometrics, in particular, stands out for its accuracy, security, and ability to offer a frictionless user experience.

In fact, according to a recent report by Markets and Markets, the biometrics market is expected to grow from $36.6 billion in 2020 to nearly double by 2025, reaching $68.6 billion. This represents a compound annual growth rate of over 13%.

How Didit Leads the Way in Free Identity Verification with Advanced Biometrics

At Didit, we offer a free identity verification solution for all companies, regardless of their size. The reason? We believe that, in an era of fraud, with generative artificial intelligence and deepfakes, securing people's identities should not be a luxury but a fundamental right. We tell you more about how we can offer free, unlimited, and forever KYC on our blog.

Our free identity verification service includes document verification and facial recognition, with a passive liveness test, which ensures the real presence of individuals, avoiding fraud such as deepfakes or similar. In this way, we allow companies of all sizes to take advantage of facial biometrics without having to face the high costs that other KYC providers usually entail.

So, whether you're looking to improve your authentication processes, optimize your digital onboarding, or reduce operational costs, Didit is here to help. Click on the banner below to start enjoying all the advantages of the most advanced KYC service on the market. And, best of all, it's free.